As the distressed character above explains, the alien crews' shutdown field can now be used on space stations. "The moment the station was immobilised, they attacked" she explains. "They focussed on the main reactor and they hit it hard."

Over on the game's subreddit (cheers, PCGN), it also looks like players have encountered similar devastation out on the field—with station commanders scrambling to evacuate and rescue survivors.

A series of images has been posted here, which illustrates how the attack unfolded. Here's how one target looked afterwards:

And now a shout out to the Elite Dangerous enthusiasts among us: How do you plan to combat this latest Thargoid threat?